Around 70 percent of the villages that do not receive 4G signals are located in Indonesia's eastern region
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Telecommunication and Informatics Accessibility Agency (BAKTI) has accorded priority to the development of free Internet access service points in Indonesia's eastern region, specifically in the outermost, underdeveloped, and frontier (3T) areas.

Comprehensive development should be conducted since 12,584 villages out of the total 84 thousand villages do not yet have mobile signal network, especially 4G signals.

"Around 70 percent of the villages that do not receive 4G signals are located in Indonesia's eastern region," Public and Government Service Director at BAKTI Danny Januar stated on Wednesday.

During the Indonesian Ombudsman Study Result Submission and Public Discussion event, he noted that achieving 4G signal coverage was crucial to support connectivity since it represents Internet access network that the people use.

To this end, BAKTI, which has developed free Internet access network in 16,800 locations, with 40 percent of them in the education sector, will continue to expand this connectivity.


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"The role of the private sector to develop telecommunication infrastructure in 3T areas is very small. They will definitely calculate the investment cost, profit, and service continuity," he remarked.

Currently, BAKTI aims to develop 121 thousand free internet access points in 3T areas by 2024.

During the event, Public Policy Observer from University of Indonesia Irfan Ridwan Maksum emphasized the need for BAKTI to provide free internet access to people in 3T areas.

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BAKTI should establish units in remote areas to maximize free internet access service to handle issues related to the strengthening of human resources and technical aspects.

In addition, Ombudsman Head Mokhammad Najih provided six suggestions for improvement to the Communication and Informatics Ministry's BAKTI in managing the internet access provision program service in 3T areas.


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Translator: Feny Aprianti, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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